Review: Gangtey Lodge

Why book?

A true one-off where stillness and silence are luxuries, with staff that don’t just look after you but make you feel genuinely cared for. Chatting with a fellow guest, we decided it would be the perfect place to convalesce.

Set the scene

Guests here are the gorp and goretex type – they’re adventurous and outdoorsy but know when to hit the brakes, and the stillness here clears space for slowing down. ‘We’ve created something for the backpackers that grew up and want a little more luxury,’ owner Khin Omar Win says. ‘This is more their hotel than my hotel’. Set among pines and plains in Bhutan’s Phobjika Valley, it’s a ten minute walk from Gangtey Monastery, a Shedra, or teaching monastery. Not only can guests visit for spiritual blessings, pujas and meditation, but they can also see a map of the valley at the lodge’s entrance, painted over several weeks by one of the monks. The hotel hired and trained ‘totally green’ local staff when they opened over ten years ago, and have continued to work closely with those in Gangtey village: on my last day, tables are being pulled together in the restaurant for a community meeting.

The backstory

From launching lodges in Myanmar to hosting hot air balloon rides over the Atacama desert, Khin Omar Win and her husband Brett Melzer haven’t just walked the path less traveled, they’ve forged their own entirely. ‘Bhutan feels like one of the few remaining places on earth that’s still hidden from the world,’ says Omar, who fell for Gangtey’s remote location back in 2003. Ten years later, she and Brett opened the lodge with 12 suites, all overlooking the Phobjika Valley. As well as a nostalgic yearning for the sense of adventure and cultural immersion they’d experienced in their youth, they also wanted to bring sustainable tourism to an area lacking in opportunity: the valley was suffering from an exodus of young people, threatening the survival of traditions and cultures passed down through generations. ‘Bhutan has a unique rhythm that connects one to nature, spirituality and oneself,’ Omar adds. ‘Our site enables guests to do just that.’

The rooms

All rooms are created equal at Gangtey: designed by Mary Lou Thomson, the 12 suites all have giant bathtubs by the window, positioned just-so to gaze out over the valley, with Swiss bukhari-style wood-burners in the corner. Lovely as they are, the rooms are less memorable for their interiors than for the extra-special touches provided by the team. Guests are offered a signature wake up call, in which a member of staff brings coffee and lights the fire – as someone who has never been described as a morning person, I still yearn for the softness of this inimitable experience. At night, you’ll find Bhutanese bedtime stories on your pillow. ‘By sharing these bedtime stories, we hope not only to rekindle memories of childhood in our guests, but to preserve these traditional tales,’ Omar explains. ‘We hope that when a guest from New York shares a Bhutanese story with their grandchildren, these stories may endure’.

Food and drink

‘As in a home, we don’t have specific restaurant times,’ Omar explains. ‘If guests wish to take breakfast mid-afternoon, that is fine by us.’ Chef Soh Chia Hwa combines natural medicine, nutrition and intuition in her family-style cooking: without being asked, she produces steamed oranges for a guest with a cough, and flat Coca Cola for another’s altitude sickness. There is a menu, but Soh riffs off it so effortlessly you won’t even notice it’s changed: homesick travelers can have her whip up their favorite dish, or order endlessly moreish momos and ema datshi, Bhutan’s signature dish of stewed chillies and cheese.

The spa

The spa staff have all been trained by the team at Chiva Som, one of the world’s best spa resorts. There are no branded products here, just subtly fragrant natural infusions. The highlight is a hot stone bath: an ancient tradition in Bhutan, Gangtey’s elevated take is an unmissable experience. Carved from blue pine trees from the valley and made by a local craftsman, the bath is filled with ice cold mountain water and heated using river stones placed on an open fire. Once they’re hot, they’re dropped into the ice-cold water, cracking on impact and releasing healing minerals into the water. Artemisia and rhododendron leaves are picked and dried every spring by the spa team, and infused in the water. The bath is candle-lit and you’re supplied with ice-cold water, sweet tea and snacks so you can soak in the healing properties as long as possible. Flowers are the highest form of offering in Bhutan, and the whole experience provides a kind of natural high that’s got nothing to do with the altitude.

The neighborhood/area

Gangtey Lodge is remote, but there’s no shortage of things to do and see, particularly at Gangtey Monastery. Visit for blessings and butter lamp ceremonies, learn about the kangling (a musical instrument made of human thigh bone) and the reincarnated children that live here. Take a stroll around Gangtey Village, or stomp across the pine-scented valley, where a carpet of tiny blue flowers bursts forth in spring and a blanket of snow settles in winter. There’s also a black-necked crane sanctuary, where you can see the endangered birds up close and use the observation platform to spot cranes, Himalayan monal and griffon. It’s so quiet here you can practically hear the whoosh of wings when a crane takes flight; better yet, the whoops of young monks bunking off to play football in the forest.

The service

Staff are warm, sweet-natured and smiley, and have a knack for anticipating your every need. On arrival, we were greeted with a moving welcome song and a five-minute massage; at breakfast, a scented pillow was placed around my neck, a hot water bottle on my lap and a blanket over my legs. I mentioned in passing wanting to find some of the lovely matchboxes left to light candles at the shrines. In under an hour, a box of six materialized, hand-wrapped in tissue paper.

Eco effort

Sustainability has long been a way of life in Bhutan, and the lodge is no different. In their efforts to connect the lodge with nature as authentically as possible, the team here has left no stone unturned. Quite literally: the rocks used in the hot stone baths are collected from a nearby river after approval from the forestry department, to ensure collection points are varied so as not to affect the natural environment.

Accessibility

There are no special adaptations, but common areas and three ground-floor suites are wheelchair-accessible.

Anything left to mention?

In hospitality, it’s hard to pull off an element of surprise without being contrived, but Gangtey Lodge bowled me over at every opportunity. Altitude sickness put a dampener on the experience for some guests, so it’s well worth factoring in extra time to acclimatize if you can.